Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to integrated circuits, and more particularly to the prevention of strained fin relaxation within FinFET semiconductor devices.
Background of Invention
A FinFET device includes a fin formed in a wafer and a gate covering a portion of the fins. The portion of the fin covered by the gate serves as a channel region of the device and portions of the fins extending out from under the gate serve as source and drain regions of the device.
Strained fins formed from strained material may be useful due to high carrier mobility. Maintaining the strain in the material of the strain fin is important to maintain the mobility benefits. However, it has been determined that the strained material at the fin ends may relax. The material relaxation may propagate from the fin ends to the fin center, resulting in mobility benefit reduction and variable FinFET device performance.